May 20, 2010

So, camera USB chord: kind of lost! And schoolwork: kind of busy! So, old photos. A while ago the people at the MOCA shop in L.A. were kind enough to send me this book called Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices Between Fashion and Architecture. I don't know if they were being nice or if they wanted me to write about it but it's pretty so I'm posting anyway.

(I know the cover is lame, but that's why you don't judge books!)

This sounds dangerously similar to that one George Bush quote, but while I haven't read all of the book, it has very pretty pictures! You see, these kinds of special books that I can't take to read in class call for Special Reading Time, which is, by definition, when hours are set aside to read special books that I can't take to read in class. So this summer I will take some time to, at the suggestion of Le Tigre, get off the Internet, and just read these giant books and put a "do not disturb" sign outside our treehouse. It'll be very J.D. Salinger, very secluded and mysterious. Then a few hours will pass, and I'll be like "IS #RTifYouraBelieber STILL TRENDING ON TWITTER OR HAS #UknowUrAddicted2JustinBieberWhen MADE IT TO THE TOP YET???/" and log on. Then I'll see that Bret Easton Ellis is still sexist, and more people are working to create a Stop Angelina From Dressing Shiloh Like A Boy Because Then She Will Literally Be A Murderer When She Grows Up foundation, and more triangles are on Tumblr, and I'll be like, "damn, Internet, you're boring, and you also depress me, and how can I be this grossed out at humans when school is not even in?" Then I'll watch Daria on Youtube because I won't have bought the box set yet because I procrastinate, and I'll be like, "Well, at least you have Daria."

So, this book! I just realized that I took way more pictures of the fashion pages than the architecture ones (naturally, I guess) but they really are best together when you can see an insane building immediately followed by an incredibly similar dress. There are the obvious designers -- Hussein Chalayan, Viktor & Rolf, and more that are usually considered "architectural" because their clothing tends to have more structure to it. But then there were some like Alber Elbaz or Dries van Noten, whose designs are no table dress, who I had never thought of as having much in common with architecture the same way Yohji Yamamoto does. The inclusion of Alaia surprised me, for example, but the book knew where I was going: "While his designs may appear simple, their manufacture is complex." It goes into detail about his specific techniques before showing a photo of a Shigeru Ban house. Besides the similarities in the actual construction of all the clothes or buildings, the book also discusses the cultural messages they all give out or referenced, and I found it to be very interesting to compare the way a designer executes a concept to the way an architect does.But enough rambling! Photo time!

How I plan to get married. No spouse necessary, I would really just like to wear a giant hat and a dress that requires assitants.

More photos here. Does anyone else own this book? Aren't the photos great? Are the actual words any good?